GMO/GE Horse Feed – The Trouble, The Danger & The Best Solution

GMO/GE Horse Feed

I was first introduced to the terms GMO/GE when an editor from Natural Horse Magazine asked me if our Horse Moms Organic Equine supplements contained any GMO/GE ingredients and I was surprised because I never heard those terms before. I checked with our suppliers and happy to say our Horse Moms organic and natural equine supplements are GMO/GE free. {so that was a good thing}

It’s such an important topic since it affects human health as well as animal health.

This issue prompted me to start doing my own research about GMO/GE to educate myself about what it was and how it affected me, my family and my animals. What I found was startling mainly because our government has allowed these types of foods into our food supply directly and indirectly.

Here’s what the terms mean

(GMO)stands for genetically modified organisms and (GE)stands for genetically engineered. These are interchangeable terms and indicate that a food, meat or plant food sources have been genetically engineered by modern science.

GMO/GE process is altering the natural DNA of an organism with DNA molecules from different sources, which are combined into one molecule to create a new set of genes. This DNA is then transferred into an organism, giving it modified or novel genes. Some touted modifications include food crop plants with newly added defenses against insects or the resistance to heavy applications of pesticides.

Sounds pretty high tech… But is it good?

Over eight hundred scientists from 84 countries have signed The World Scientist open letter to all governments calling for a ban on the patenting of life-forms and emphasizing the very grave hazards of GMOs, genetically-modified seeds and GM foods. This was submitted to the UN, World Trade Organization and US Congress.Britain’s Medical Association (the equivalent of the AMA and with over a 100,000 physicians) called for an outright banning of genetically-modified foods and labeling the same in countries where they still exist.

A four-year study at the University of Jena in Germany conducted by Hans-Hinrich Kaatz revealed that bees ingesting pollen from transgenic rapeseed had bacteria in their gut with modified genes. This is called a “horizontal gene transfer.” Commonly found bacteria and microorganisms in the human gut help maintain a healthy intestinal flora. These, however, can be mutated.

Mutations may also be able to travel internally to other cells, tissue systems and organs throughout the human body. Not to be underestimated, the potential domino effect of internal and external genetic pollution can make the substance of science-fiction horror movies become terrible realities in the future. The same is true for the bacteria that maintain the health of our soil – and are vitally necessary

for all forms of farming – in fact for human sustenance and survival.

-Taken from http://www.raw-wisdom.com/50harmful.

I thought this information was worth sharing since these GMO/GE ingredients can impact your health as well as
your horses, pets and livestock.

One way your animals can be exposed to these ingredients is by eating commercial grains and pet food. It is interesting to note that the largest G.E. crops in North America are soy, corn, cotton and sugar beets which are processed into sugar. The USDA in January 2011 gave the okay for “conditional deregulation” of Monsanto’s genetically engineered, herbicide-resistant alfalfa.

It is also interesting to note that many GMO/G.E. foods are in the feed given to livestock. When you analyze commercial grains and pet foods the number one ingredient is corn and soy is traditionally used to add protein to feeds.

Loaded with GE /GMO?

Alfalfa is also used in feed mixes as well as a feed by itself as pellets or hay.

GMO alfalfa was just approved in January 2011 for use but a lower court rescinded the USDA approval of the GE alfalfa and banned further planting of it. Then the Supreme Court lifted the lower court ban on planting, but it did not reinstate the approval of the GE seeds for planting. This halted the practice of planting GMO alfalfa but we don’t know for how long.

The Best Solution

One way to ensure your animals are not getting food that has GMO/GE ingredients is by contacting the manufacturer and asking them directly like in my case when I was asked by the editor of Natural Horse Magazine or by feeding grains and pet food that say organic.

“Organic” refers to the way agricultural products are grown and processed. Specific requirements must be met and maintained in order for products to be labeled as “organic”.

Organic crops must be grown in safe soil, have no modifications and must remain separate from conventional products. Farmers are not allowed to use synthetic pesticides, bioengineered genes (GMOs), petroleum-based fertilizers and sewage sludge-based fertilizers.

I currently feed my horse our Horse Moms organic complete supplements so they have complete nutrition and organic alfalfa pellets and organic oats from Natures Best Organic Feeds located Pennsylvania but they are distributed in other states as well. When you go to their site they have dealer locater that you can choose your state and a list of distributors in that state will come up. Their website ishttp://www.organicfeeds.com.

I thought this issue was important enough to bring to your attention so you weren’t all in the dark like I was.

I hope this information helps you make a more informed decision about your choices of food for yourselves as well as your animals.

To be fair about this issue and let all of you make up your own minds if you want to feed GMO/GE feeds and supplements to your horses or pets or livestock or even your family I have provided additional links to other articles on this matter in the special research section below.

During my research I found a few some very interesting information that can help you…